Durban - South Africa may still mount a “last-minute” bid to overturn the 30-year world ban on rhino-horn trading, despite recent government signals that it has put the controversial proposal on ice.
This emerged on Monday night after rhino conservationist Ian Player urged delegates at the International Wildlife Management Congress in Durban to lend their support to a new system of legalised and controlled international trading of rhino horns as a way to curb the recent alarming spike in rhino poaching in SA.
Player said he hoped international wildlife management groups would support plans by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife to persuade the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) to lift its three-decade ban on rhino horn trading. His plea comes on the eve of a protest march through Durban at 7.30am today to halt the slaughter of rhinos.
The 85-year-old conservationist was unable to deliver his speech in person because of bronchitis, but speaking on his behalf, Chris Galliers of the Wildlife and Environment Society said Player felt a sense of deep despair over the “catastrophic” rhino poaching crisis, and new strategies had to be found as a matter of urgency.
“The sale of rhino horn accumulated through natural mortality is a strategy I believe we need to adopt. This is nothing new. In the 1960s, the Natal Parks Board sold rhino horn on the open market.”
He urged all wildlife management associations to support the bid by Bandile Mkhize of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, who was pushing the government to make a formal proposal to Cites at its next meeting in March to lift the ban on sales.
Mkhize told The Mercury it was not too late to make a formal proposal, despite signals by national Environment Minister Edna Molewa that it was too late to meet the deadline of October.
Earlier this year Molewa ruled out the possibility of a formal proposal, but, according to Mkhize, a later submission was made to her to reconsider.
He believed it was crucial to make the bid next year rather than wait until the next Cites meeting in 2016.
“By then it could be too late... South Africa has 90 percent of the remaining world rhino population,” he said.
Mkhize said Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife was on the point of finalising a proposal to the Department of Environment Affairs to present to Cites next year.
Mkhize believed there was still time to mount an effective campaign if the national department agreed to submit a formal proposal before October.
If SA was able to persuade Cites to overturn the trading ban, it would take two years to introduce a system of controlled, legal trading in rhino horn.
Mkhize said he could not speak on behalf of SA National Parks, but he was convinced that it was “willing to consider our viewpoints”.
Molewa indicated earlier this year that one of the biggest hurdles to lifting the ban was that SA needed formal support from prospective trading partners, most likely China and Vietnam. Because any attempt to overturn the ban on trade would require a two-thirds majority of all Cites members, SA would also need to engage other countries. Backing from the EU would be critical, as the EU member bloc holds 27 of the 95 votes required. - The Mercury